Tip of the Spear (29 page)

“Yield,
you little shit. And the next time you try bringing a whore into my bedroom
I’ll—”

“Mahpee,
Wolf,” Dan said loudly, interrupting his sons. “I’d like you to meet a friend of
mine.” He slid off his horse and waited for Thais to dismount.

She
did so, ready to defend herself if need be. Though these men were Hinto’s
blood, Mahpee looked ready to kill. Wolf, however, smiled as he looked her over.
Well, she couldn’t say Hinto hadn’t warned her.

“Well,
hel-lo gorgeous.”

She
wanted to smile. Something about Wolf charmed when he should have come across
as obnoxious.

Dan
rubbed his eyes and shook his head. “Your brother will be on his way, so
behave.” She caught the smile tugging at his mouth. “Wolf, Mahpee, meet Thais,
a friend of Hinto’s.”

Their
eyes widened at mention of their brother.

“Hinto’s
here?” Mahpee asked in a deep voice. Like his father, he had blue-black hair
and light blue eyes. He didn’t wear a jacket, and his muscular frame strained
at the seams of his denim shirt. Mahpee definitely seemed the more threatening
of Hinto’s siblings. He spared her a quick glance and stood. “Welcome to Sky
Ranch.”

He
rose and walked back into the barn without another word.

Dan
sighed.

“Ah,
could I get a hand up?” Wolf pleaded and wiped a spot of blood from his
swelling lower lip.

She
met Dan’s gaze as he rolled his eyes and helped her pull Wolf to his feet.

“Damn,
she’s just as pretty up close, Dad.”

Wolf
had dark brown eyes, but there was no mistaking his resemblance to his family. His
familiar smile made her heart sing for Hinto. She quickly squelched the need to
see him. He’d arrive all too soon, ready with threats and commands to obey that
she wouldn’t heed.

“Where
the hell did Hinto find you?” Wolf breathed. “Damn, he’s good. Always gets his
man, or his woman, as the case may be.” Wolf laughed and slung his arm around
his father’s shoulders, but he was careful not to squeeze too tight.

Thais
noticed the tender way he pretended to lean on his father while assisting Dan
into the house.

“Wait
‘til you see the place, Thais. We’ve been working hard, but it’s getting colder
out. Needed more time to see to the farm and animals than the house, lately,”
Wolf said as he set Dan down on a long couch in front of a lit fireplace. Without
asking, Wolf removed Dan’s boots and hat and tugged at his jacket.

“I’m
not a damned invalid,” Dan sputtered, but Wolf didn’t stop until his father sat
comfortably, his feet propped on a table.

She
couldn’t help admiring how deftly he’d maneuvered the older man.

The
large room sighed with comfort. Several plush chairs, the couch, and
intricately carved wooden tables that made her want to touch added to the air
of belonging, as if the insides had been designed to complement the wild
outdoors. Was that a wolf, carved into one of the table legs?

“Now
how about your jacket, Thais?” Wolf licked his lips as if hungry for a taste of
her. If he hadn’t been so obvious about lusting after her she’d think he was
serious. But she saw his attention waver at the sound of booted steps nearing. He
grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. “Let me help you, beautiful.”

“Son
of a bitch. I
knew
you’d be like this,” Hinto growled as he entered the
room and threw a punch at his brother.

“Your
sons seem to be rather violent.” Thais watched as Hinto and Wolf clashed.

“Don’t
I know it. Should have had a passel of girls,” Dan muttered.

“No,
Dad,” Hinto said as he straddled Wolf, in much the same way Mahpee had recently
pinned his brother. He shot her a heated glare. “Trust me, girls are far more
dangerous than your boys will ever be.”

Chapter Fifteen

Hinto
had nearly lost his mind when he’d exited the bar and found Thais nowhere to be
found. Thankfully, Marley had just exited the general store and pointed him in
his father’s direction. He’d caught sight of them just as they crossed the
bridge. Close enough to follow, but too far away to catch them before they’d
reached the house.

He’d
passed Tom, Mick, Henry and Jon, men who worked the ranch often enough to be
considered family. Rudy and Henry were more permanent hands and according to
Tom, helping Mahpee work a few new horses. He hadn’t seen Mahpee when he’d
ridden in to the homestead.

But
Wolf, typical Wolf, was already trying to charm Thais out of her clothes.

“Hinto,
leave your brother alone. He was just being polite.” Thais sounded amused, and
that pissed him off to no end. But he wouldn’t ream her in front of his father,
not when he wanted nothing more than to see the old man smiling and breathing
again.

“Welcome
home, brother,” Wolf managed and rubbed his jaw. “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah.”
Hinto stood. The knowing look Thais gave him made him feel like a jealous fool.
He turned to his father. “Dad. I missed you. You’re looking good,” he said,
surprised. The last time he’d been home his father had appeared frail.

“Sorry
to disappoint you,” his father said gruffly. “Come here, you idiot.”

Hinto
grinned and leaned down to hug his father. As he did, he saw the corner of a
cloth dotted with blood tucked into his pocket.

He
frowned, worried, but quickly wiped his expression clean when he straightened. Hinto
turned to Thais and huffed. “I see you’ve already met my little brother.”

Wolf
scowled. “Little? I’m as big as you.”

“As
big a pain as you,” Mahpee added with a slow smile from the doorway. “About
time you came home again,
little
brother.” He held open his arms and
welcomed Hinto with a hug, his anger no longer present. “So what did you bring
us?”

“Me.
Isn’t that enough?”

They
laughed and spoke for some time, until Hinto noticed the pensive, almost sad
look on Thais’s face. She seemed to like his father well enough, and she’d
smiled when they teased one another. Maybe being around family made her think
of her own and all she’d lost.

“Thais?
You okay?” he asked, concerned.

She
forced a smile. “Some family. You all look alike.”

Mahpee
regarded her with hooded eyes. “How do you know my brother?”

The
doubt in his tone confused her, but Hinto knew the blame for his suspicions lay
on Wolf’s sorry ass.

“I’m
sorry?”

Hinto
huffed. “Easy, Mahpee. She’s here to help me. Hold on.” He limped from the
room, aware he’d face a barrage of questions soon enough. Eager to find the
nucca
seeds that might just heal his father, he grabbed them from his saddle bag and
returned in time to hear his father chiding his brother.

“Mahpee,
your mother raised you better than that.”

Mahpee
flushed. “I’m sorry, it’s just that Wolf brought me a whore, and I wondered if
maybe—” He paused when he noticed Thais’s displeasure.

“I
was a whore?” She smiled through her teeth and approached until she stood in
front of Mahpee. “The last man to make such a mistake is now breathing through
a hole in his throat.”

Mahpee
didn’t flinch. The two of them stood toe to toe, waiting for the other to back
away. Damned if Hinto didn’t feel a measure of pride on Thais’s behalf. She
truly was a warrior, a strong woman who would never be cornered, never be
beaten.

 “My
mistake.” Mahpee’s lips twitched. He made no move to step back, and the gleam
in his eyes brightened with
humor, or was that lust? “Where the hell did
Hinto find you?”

Hinto
had had enough. “Mahpee, give the woman some space,” he hissed and shoved his older
brother  back. “First Wolf, now you?”

Dan
coughed and everyone stopped. “Wolf, could I have some water?  Mahpee, a cloth,
please. Hinto, my boy, come sit by me. Thais, you too.”

Hinto
saw his father wink at Thais, saw her try to hide a grin as she sat next to
Dan, so Hinto allowed his father’s drama. Not much had changed since he’d been
gone, he thought with amusement and a surge of relief.

Wolf
returned with the water at the same time Mahpee brought the cloth, neither of
which Dan used.

Hinto
placed the
nucca
seeds in Thais’s hand. The touch of her warm palm shot
a tingle through him, one he saw reflected in her gaze before he pulled back. “Dad,
we need to plant these. Tell him, Thais.”

“Tell
him?” she asked in a low voice.

“About
the seeds.”

“What
seeds?” Maphee asked and sat in a chair beside them.

She
answered but didn’t look away from her hands. “Your brother told me about your
father’s lung sickness. I don’t know much about medicine, not like my sister.”

“Yara,”
Hinto added, needing her to know he remembered everything she’d ever told him
about herself.

She
gave him an odd look and continued. “Yes, well, these seeds come from the
nucca
plant. We often use the
nucca
to heal. In paste form it cures most
everything.”

He
saw the hope on their faces and had to add, “Thais said once we plant the seeds
and they grow, we can use the leaves in tea. You could drink it or use the
steam to help heal your lungs, Dad.”

“It’s
not a guarantee, but an alternative to what you’ve already tried,” Thais
hastened to warn.

“It’s
better than anything we’ve got,” Mahpee answered. “Hinto’s dumbass idea to take
Dad through the Divide isn’t going to work.”

“You
don’t know that,” Hinto argued, despite not wanting to have this discussion so
soon after returning home. Hell, he hadn’t seen his family in months. Couldn’t
they share one day without yelling at each other?

Wolf
chimed in. “Hinto, we all know it. Even Dad knows it. But if it makes you feel
better to think you’re doing something we can’t, have at it.”

The
hurt and anger Hinto didn’t want to feel burgeoned to the surface. Did they
think it was easy to leave? To know he might return to find his father dead and
buried? He worked hard to give his father a chance at new life, not to escape
the doldrums of disease. Fuck, he should have known better than to think they’d
actually changed their minds about the Divide since he’d last been home. He’d
been fooling himself that his brothers actually understood why he did what he
did.

Before
he could say something he’d probably regret, Thais reached past his father and grabbed
Hinto’s hand. “Thank you for bringing me here. Your house is very nice indeed.”

Aware
of what she was doing, he allowed her to change the subject after glaring at
both his brothers. They’d shelve this topic, but it was far from over. “Ah,
yeah. You want a tour?”

“Good
idea,” Dan said on a sigh. “We’ll be having the mid-meal in another hour. Why
don’t you show Thais the rest of the house? You two rest up. You’ve no doubt
had a full day already. Wolf, Mahpee, grab their things and tend to the horses.”
The command in his tone couldn’t be ignored.

“Sure.”

“Okay,
Dad.”

A
loud pot banged in the kitchen. Dozie. He’d missed her apple turnovers.

The
moment Thais turned to investigate the sound, Wolf leered at her until Mahpee
gripped him by the back of the neck and dragged him out the door.

Dan
chuckled. “Such a pain in the ass.”

“No
kidding,” Hinto mumbled.

Dozie
barked at Thais to leave her kitchen the hell alone, and she left the area with
a frown on her face. Instead, Thais studied the dining area just outside the
kitchen.

His
father crooked a finger for Hinto to lean closer and whispered, “Now go show
off the place to Thais. Make her like it. And take your time.” He smiled. “Been
a long time since we had such a spirited woman in the house. Be a shame to
scare her off so soon.”

Hinto
didn’t know how to tell his father that nothing scared Thais. Not rapists,
murderers, and surely not two annoying Dakota brothers.

“I’ll
be back down later.” He left his father and caught Thais standing under his
mother’s portrait.

All
in all, the house looked good. The wooden logs stacked tightly on top of one
another, insulated against the weather by a conglomeration of packed dirt,
cement and wool that held the walls upright. When the fireplace blazed, the
house offered a comfort that kept them more than warm, but safe from the
elements and the predators outside.

They
used the large main room to relax in after a hard day working the ranch. The
oversized furniture fit their big frames. Made of leather and a cotton weave,
the durable couch had been stuffed and restuffed and withstood the test of time.
 Native rugs covered the wooden floors and were swept regularly by Dozie, who
slaved away in the kitchen and muttered about the crazy Dakotas. He needed to
introduce Thais to the crotchety old woman—Dozie yelling didn’t count—but not
before he’d had a good conversation with his Amazon.